Alternate Reality Game

An alternate reality game, or ARG, (also called immersive fiction) is a real-time interactive experience that utilizes several media and gaming elements to tell a story. The players uncover parts of the story by solving clues and/or puzzles passed to them through various mediums such as postal mail, e-mail, telephone, voicemail, websites, videos, etc. The players often directly affect the advancement of plot. The individual(s) responsible for control of the game and storyline is called the "puppetmaster."

ARG Basics

Curtain: A metaphor for the line of separation between players and puppetmasters. Everything behind the curtain (out of game) does not exist in front of the curtain (in game).

Drop: A clue or puzzle, dropped off, that players find and share in order to advance the story.

Gamejack (or ARGjack): An individual or action that is considered a deliberate attack on the game. Examples of this include false drops, or an individual who is not part of the ARG but pretends to be in order to confuse and distract players.

Lurker: A player who who follows the game or discussion without directly participating.

Puppetmaster: An individual involved in designing and/or controlling an ARG. The true identity of a puppetmaster may or may not be known.

Shill: An individual associated with the puppetmaster who poses as player.

This Is Not A Game (TINAG): The defining mantra of alternate reality gaming which dictates that the game should not behave like a game and instead exists in a fully-realized world where characters function like real people. The game itself does not acknowledge that it is a game, it does not have an acknowledged ruleset for players, and all action takes place in real-time and is not replayable.

Common Abbreviations

IG: In Game

OOG: Out Of Game

IC: In Character

OOC: Out Of Character

PM: Puppetmaster

TINAG: This Is Not A Game

IRC: A chat program often utilized in alternate reality games to solve puzzles and discuss drops